The Melbourne Mavericks were set to compete against the West Coast Fever in their final round of SSN for season 2024.
In order to keep their hopes of making finals alive, the Mavericks needed to give themselves their third win in a row. The Fever on the other hand needed to win by 24 goals to jump over the Vixens and give themselves a double chance at finals.
Much like the Mavericks entire season, the match had ups and downs. It was clear, however, the Mavericks were not going to go down without a fight, and what a testament to their club culture and character it was.
Q1: 20-15, Mavs down
In true fashion, Shimona Jok opened up the scoreboard for the Mavs to set off the first quarter. The vision from Cardwell to her teammate in the goal circle was immaculate from the first siren, and the Fever had their work cut out for them if they wished to stop this dynamic duo.
Kim Jenner and Liv Lewis were putting on a show against the likes of Shanice Beckford, Jenner gaining two intercepts and Lewis only fingertips away from multiple feeds sent into Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard.
The pressure from the well established Fever side, however, did start to take its toll. Fran Williams and Kadie-Ann Dehaney began doing an excellent job of keeping Jok away from the post and forcing Cardwell to exit the circle, leaving no one home in the goal circle for the visiting side. The home team were able to gain a five goal advantage over their opposition, and the chase was on.
POWER FIVE:
The power five saw both sides play the one point game, with no one yet ready to tackle the game changing two point shot. Despite the Maverick’s best effort to get some two points shots on the board, the Fever defenders had clearly done their homework and were double tagging our supershot expert in Cardwell.
Despite this, Maisie Nankivell stepped up for the side, finding perfect body positioning and textbook feeds into Jok, allowing the Mavericks to slowly claw their way back onto the scoreboard.
In a scramble to the finish of the first quarter, Cardwell took an incredible two point shot in the dying second of the game which would have allowed the Mavericks to only be trailing by three goals. However, it was decided upon review that both feet did not land in the goal circle, meaning the goal was invalid and did not count. Nonetheless, Cardwell proved to the Fever that she meant nothing but business.
Q2: 30-34, Mavs down
The second quarter was much stronger from the Mavericks, despite the overall scoreline not changing a great deal.
The team came up with an immediate turnover from the Fever’s first centre pass, boosting their confidence as a side.
A coach killing turnover from the Mavs, however, cost them their win and allowed the Fever to once again lead the game by five goals.
Sunday Aryang began to stamp her name on the game, proving to be a defensive force to be reckoned with down the Mavericks attack line, and putting doubt in her opposition's heads.
Nankivell, however, continued to make her presence known, walking away from the quarter with five goal assists and 16 feeds. An unforced error from the Fever allowed the Mavericks to bring the game back within three goals, once again putting the pressure on the Fever and proving that they are never ready to give up.
The Maverick’s unorthodox style of play may not have been the cleanest we have seen from the side this season, however they did eventually get the job done in the goal circle and score from the majority of their wins.
A tactical timeout before the Power Five saw Gabrielle Sinclair step into Goal Attack, sending Cardwell back to Goal Shooter.
POWER FIVE:
The Mavericks were down by seven at the beginning of this passage of play.
Both Sinclair and Cardwell added one Super Shot to their name, with Lewis and Jenner remaining on the hunt for an intercept against Fowler-Nembhard. The Mavericks kept themselves in the game by taking four intercepts to the Fever’s zero, however, they still walked away into the halftime break down by four goals.
Q3:43-56, Mavs down
The West Coast Fever threw a spanner in the works in the third quarter, sending Alice Teague-Neeld to Goal Attack for just the second time this season.
A testament to Lewis and Jenner, Fowler-Nembhard missed her first shot for the game, however, proved herself unstoppable for the rest of the game.
Sinclair’s quick releases to Jok proved that she wanted to get on with the game and allow her team to start bringing back the scoreline.
Nankivell and Parmenter both put their bodies on the line, not afraid to knock their opponents on the circle edge.
POWER FIVE:
The Power Five saw Kristiana Manu’a come into Goal Defence for a spell, switching up the combination in the goal circle for the Fever.
Fraser came into Centre, seeing Jovic to the bench. An initial miss from Sinclair from the Super Shot range was followed up by nothing but net on her next attempt. Cardwell too shot an incredible double point shot in this passage of play.
Despite these changes, the Mavericks could not shake the defence stemming from the Fever and their 11,841 cheerleaders in RAC Arena, a stadium record.
Q4:57-76, Mavs lose
In their last quarter to keep their finals hopes alive, the Melbourne Mavericks played their hearts out.
Lewis got her hand on a deflection and eventually won the throw in which was a big win for her game.
Despite Cardwell slotting the goal stemming from this incredible passage of play from the Mavs, only minutes later the team found themselves down by 10 goals and in desperate need of more defensive impact.
Unable to capitalise on the Fever’s unforced errors due to coach killing errors themselves, the Mavericks unfortunately saw the Fever’s lead increase and their finals hopes slip away.
POWER FIVE:
The Power Five was the team’s last shot at staging a comeback, and their last chance to play together as a team for season 2024.
Cardwell slotted a two point shot that set the team on fire, and the Mavericks needed to move fast if they wanted to keep their chances alive.
Unfortunately, the pressure seemed all too much and where the Mavs were missing two point chances, Teague-Neeld and Fowler-Nembhard were slotting them.
Despite knowing that the game was lost, the Mavericks never gave up, which has been telling of their season in its entirety. It was clear watching the side that they were playing for their coaches and staff, for their ever growing Mavericks’ army of Trailblazers, but most importantly, for each other.
Despite losing the game and their last minute finals push, the Maverick’s inaugural season was one for the history books, and most definitely a season to be exceptionally proud of.
